Key points
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Sofia, as well as at least a dozen other cities on Monday evening in the biggest protests the Balkan country has seen for years.
In central Sofia, demonstrators packed the giant square in front of the National Assembly building. One of the rally organizers put the attendance at 50,000, according to the Bulgarian News Agency, BTA.
They chanted “Resignation!” and sang and danced as they waved Bulgarian and European Union flags
The protesters projected the words “Resign” and “Mafia” onto the government buildings around the square and held two large banners saying: “Generation Z is coming” and “Young Bulgaria without the mafia.”
Monday’s protests are the biggest Bulgaria has seen in yearsImage: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP
Why are people protesting in Bulgaria?
Protesters want the government to stick with its promise to withdraw the 2026 budget, which proposed steeper taxes on dividends and a hike in social security contributions.
They are also angry about public sector corruption and are calling for the resignation of the minority coalition government of Rosen Zhelyazkov.
Bulgaria, with a population of 6.4 million people, is one of the most corrupt countries in the European Union. Of the 27 EU member states, only Hungary is rated as more corrupt on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index.
“We are here to protest for our future. We want to be a European country, not one ruled by corruption and the mafia,” Ventsislava Vasileva, a 21-year-old student, told AFP news agency.
Another protester, a 24-year-old who gave his name as Georgi, said he was protesting against “all the arrogance” shown by the country’s leaders and “all the lawlessness.”
Demonstrators accused the government of pushing the 2026 budget through without proper debateImage: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP
Bulgarian protesters clash with police
The main protest in central Sofia was peaceful, according to local media reports.
But after the main rally broke up, some of the protesters clashed with police, throwing rocks, bottles and firecrackers. They also set garbage containers on fire and destroyed a police van late on Monday, according to BTA.
Groups of protesters vandalized the headquarters of the ruling party plus another party that supports the government, BTA reported.
Police retaliated with pepper spray, and at least 10 people were arrested and two police officers were injured, the agency said.
After the main protest, several groups of demonstrators set fire to rubbish containers and threw bottles and stonesImage: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP
President Rumen Radev, an independent, said all violence should stop.
He also called for the government to step down.
“There is only one way out: resignation and early elections,” Radev said on Facebook.
Bulgaria is governed by a minority coalition formed by GERB, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and There Is Such a People (ITN).
Why are people angry about the 2026 budget?
The government is expected to propose amendments to the proposed 2026 budget this week.
After mass protests erupted across Bulgaria last week, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov promised on November 27 that his Cabinet would withdraw the draft 2026 budget and shape a new one.
Points of contention included raising social security contributions and certain taxes while increasing public sector spending.
Critics are concerned about the economic impact of the budget in a country that is the poorest in the EU.
They are also worried that greater flows to the public sector will further entrench graft.
The protests come as the Balkan country prepares to adopt the European common currency, the euro, on January 1, 2026.
The president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, warned last month that that inflation may jump when Bulgaria joins the euro zone.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar